The Importance of a Mission Statement for Leadership

Mission statements are a fluid and concise description of your business and its goals. Your mission statement isn’t just something you write one time and you’re done with it. As your business changes, your mission statement can also change. That’s what we mean by it being fluid. The mission statement is important for everyone within an organization. It’s even important for the members of leadership.

A Written Guideline

The mission statement is a written guideline of how an organization operates. This guideline should be posted by leadership in conspicuous places such as a reception area, the break room, and in offices belonging to employees. It should also be reviewed during leadership meetings to ensure that the actions being taken by leaders are in line with the goals. Every action that is taken by leadership and employees either moves the organization toward or away from its goals.

The mission statement is important to everyone within the company. Everyone from the receptionist to the CEO should know the mission statement and how they can inject it into their job duties.

Why a Mission Statement is Important for Leadership

A mission statement is important for leadership because it’s a written reminder of the overall goal of the company. Since the leaders of the organization make the most important decisions, the mission statement acts as a guiding light to keep everyone compliant to the overall goals of the company. It can also be used during the hiring process. Hiring managers can use the basic requirements in the mission statement and compare those traits to potential new hires.

Since a mission statement includes goals are worked toward by daily action, individuals within leadership positions can use the mission statement during employee assessments. It can be used to measure the employee’s performance with the company’s expectations. Is the performance of the employee in line with the mission statement? Will their daily actions continue to propel the company toward its goals?

The mission statement sets a tone and provides motivation for leadership. People in leadership positions have followers. Those followers generally emulate at least some of their leader’s activities. So, it’s important that the leaders of an organization adhere to the mission statement. This encourages everyone else in the organization to do so as well. Leaders are often put into the spotlight on the outside. They are visible reminders of the company. Honoring the mission statement outside of the work place keeps the organization in a positive light with the public.